The Dust Bin
by Emertheawesome
Summary: Inuyasha smiled tenderly when she wasn't looking. "Keh," he muttered.Drabble collection. Various pairings.
1. Warmth

"Thank you."

Inuyasha scowled at Kagome disbelievingly as she smiled gently. They sat side by side along a gently slope, overseeing the rolling forest before them lethargically. The summer heat was taking a toll even on the usually boisterous hanyou's energy.

"For what?" Inuyasha asked gruffly, fingering Tetsuaiga.

Kagome just scooted closer to him, a blush spreading lightly across her cheek bones, then she leaned her head against his shoulder. Inuyasha tensed, then relaxed as a warmth, completely unrelated to the temperature, coiled through him.

"For being you," she murmured.

Inuyasha smiled tenderly when she wasn't looking. "Keh," he muttered.


	2. Gray

**A/N: **Another drabble. If you hadn't noticed, I'm kind of a Naraku fan. I find him absolutely enticing. (I don't own Inuyasha, btw.)

**Summary**: There is no true evil, as there is no true good.

**Word count**: 657

**Gray**

Kagome stared at him warily, waiting for the slithering insults to roll from his lips, waiting for his claws to grasp her and rip the shards from her neck. Instead he smiled, cruelly she thought. His lips were too thin to be friendly, to be attractive, to hold the possibility of relaxing his prey. Kagome stiffened, clenching her hands into tight fists. The room they resided in was stifling.

"Miko," Naraku murmured, "Relax. Make yourself at home." He waved his hand gracefully. The area they were in was empty, save him and her. Screens to other sections of the palace were sealed shut.

"I'd rather not," Kagome replied tightly, trying not to betray her anxiety. Naraku's smug expression did not shift at her attempted defiance. If anything, he seemed more amused by it.

"As you wish," he replied lightly, and more than anything Kagome wanted to rip his face apart with her blunted nails.

"Inuyasha will find me," she informed him darkly. "He'll kill you."

Naraku shifted, his eyes flickered to the glowing shards around her neck, then back up to her face. "Yes, I quite expect him to."

"To kill you? You expect him to kill you?" Kagome asked incredulously.

"You are young," Naraku said simply, "the tragedies of life have yet to touch you."

Kagome stared at him, then slowly folded her legs beneath her to sit. She kept her eyes on him the entire time. "I have see tragedy," she commented slowly.

"Seeing, and experiencing are two completely different things, Miko."

Kagome frowned. "Are you trying to make excuses? That you are like this now because of _tragedy?"_

"Everyone is like this now because of tragedy," he murmured, "I'm just trying to make the best of it."

"I think that is an excuse." Kagome rubbed her arms, the dark aura of the place was causing her skin to prickle and her stomach to roil. "I think you are just evil."

"Perhaps," he replied." But I would like to see how you would turn out, with your entire body burned and broken and left to die in a cave surrounded by starving demons. I would dearly like to see."

Kagome turned away, but not before she caught his expression. In that moment, she saw the humanity inside of him--the bitterness and regret and the desire for _more _than the horrendous hand he was dealt. As demonic and evil as he was, there was still a sliver of something inside of him that forced him to obsess over what he lost.

"You're not burned and broken now," she whispered. "So what is your new excuse?"

Naraku's eyes glittered maliciously. "You define yourself by your purity, do you not?"

Kagome glanced at him suspiciously. "No, I don't. I didn't even know about my... _purity _until recently."

"Ah, a pity. Well, I define myself by my _evil _as you so call it."

"Why?" Kagome asked simply.

If Kagome hadn't known Naraku, hadn't known the atrocities that he had committed she might have felt sorry for him at that moment. Her heart, her human heart, hardened though, it hardened and calloused and not even the purity within her would allow forgiveness for this man.

"The less I care," he said softly, like his words were tiptoeing through the air, "the less pain I feel."

"And loneliness?" she questioned. "What about that?"

"Well now, I am speaking to you. That relieves it somewhat, I suspect."

"That's not the same," Kagome replied. "I _hate_ you."

Naraku smiled. He did not grin or smirk and curl his lips deviously. He smiled. "Perhaps you do hate me. But I'm not lonely, am I? Why, I have you, your hanyou, your monk. I have the rest of the world, and they are all coming to _me, _aren't they?"

Kagome returned his smile, hesitantly. "I guess. And you will have us until you die."

He looked satisfied, justified. "Yes, that is all I want."


	3. Bridge

Prompt: Bridge

Word count: 402

Pairing: IY x K

A/N: I do not own Inuyasha, but please enjoy. Reviews appreciated.

Kagome found him in the Goshinboku. He was studiously ignoring her with a scowl on his rough features. Even from the ground she could see his discontent as he clutched Tetsuaiga to his chest.

"Inuyasha," she called up, "I'm back!"

She waited patiently for a response, but only a single twitch revealed he had heard her. Kagome sighed, dropping her pack on the ground and stretching to reach the first branch. In a flash, Inuyasha dropped down next to her, frowning thunderously.

"What are you doing, wench?" he demanded.

Kagome dropped her arms and smiled. "I was going to come up and see you," she explained.

"Keh! You can't get that high up."

"Yeah, but it got you to come down, didn't it?"

Inuyasha crossed his arms, looking off in the distance behind her, as though her last comment wasn't even worth answering. Kagome restrained the grin that threatened to curl her lips, which would undoubtedly irritate the hanyou even more.

"I wanted you to know I was back," Kagome said amiably, purposely ignoring Inuyasha's pout.

"Keh!" he replied intelligently.

"Okay," Kagome bated, "I guess I'll just start telling Miroku when I get back first."

Inuyasha's ears flattened slightly."Fine," he ground out.

Kagome let loose a long sigh and reached to heft her monstrous bag back up. Inuyasha grabbed it before she could though, easily tossing it over his shoulder, as though it weighed five pounds, instead of fifty.

"Thank you, Inuyasha," Kagome commented gratefully.

Inuyasha flushed, ears plastering to his head. "Can't have you injuring yourself. You'll just go home again."

Kagome nodded sagely, deciding to not start a squabble with him. They began to meander their way back to the village, comfortably silent. Kagome glanced at him subtly out of the corner of her eye. He was tense and quiet, and she couldn't help but feel a warmth flutter through her belly when she studied him. So stoic in his own way, independent and wary, and it made Kagome feel like crossing the unfathomable distance that separated them.

Before she could lose nerve, Kagome allowed her hand to bridge the few inches to his, lightly grasping his calloused fingers in hers. Inuyasha hesitated and swallowed, cheeks flushing nearly as red as his haori.

"Keh," he mumbled, but his fingers curled gently around hers, and with that single motion they both took a step to cross the monumental gap between them.


	4. Voyeur

**Word: **Voyeur

**Count: **500

**A/N: **Kind of crack. Sorry if you don't find it amusing, but the idea attacked me. P.S. Thank you for the reviews. I love them. Please continue.

* * *

It was nearing dusk and the group was walking down the road. The sky blurred in between a mellow purple and a violent red, and they were all searching desperately for a good place to camp. It took only a few minutes before they all noticed something odd.

"What is that noise?" asked Miroku, tilting his head slightly.

Kagome paused, listening intently before she heard it too. "Huh," she murmured, turning to look at Inuyasha--

--who happened to be extremely pale and jittery.

"Are you okay, Inuyasha?" Kagome questioned nervously.

Inuyasha responded with a muttered _"Fuck!"_

The rest of the group turned their attention to the sweating hanyou, staring curiously.

"Is something the matter?" Miroku said tentatively.

"So fucking gross! Fucking dammit!"

"Uh," said Sango in response. The roaring noises they had heard were growing louder.

It was at that moment that Shippo pointed over the trees to their right. "Look!" The road they had been walking for the day was on a ridge, thus leaving the area that Shippo brought to their attention easy to see. Kagome noticed the two giant dogs first. There was a dark brown one, which was mounted by a white--

_"Oh my god," _screeched Kagome. "What are they _doing?"_

Inuyasha looked as though he might pass out, Miroku's expression was one of shocked amusement, and Sango had flushed and covered her face.

"Inuyasha," murmured Miroku mildly. "Are those two dog demons doing what I think they're doing?"

"Keh!"

"And," continued Miroku. "That white dog has three legs, so that wouldn't happen to be Sess--"

"KEH!"

Kagome covered Shippo's eyes, much to his chagrin, though she couldn't help but stare herself.

Turning to look at Inuyasha, she asked, "Is that normal? The noises?" She was referring to the rhythmic roaring that seemed to be coming from the _white dog's _maw.

"How the fuck should I know?" he snapped, stomping away. The rest of the group followed, trying to ignore the demon's extended roar, which silence followed.

* * *

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at the tense human's in front of them. The smell of amusement curled off them in waves, but their faces were studiously blank.

"What the fuck do you want, bastard?" yelled Inuyasha, though he seemed to lack his usual vigor.

"I have no reason to indulge your whims, half-breed," he stated, though his eyes remained on the humans.

The miko snorted and he focused on her as her face turned red and she bit her lip viciously, attempting to look innocent. He shot her a quelling glare and turned to stride away, no longer in the mood for a fight. The tone was just not right.

Behind him, the group collapsed on the ground, shoulders shaking as they attempted to control themselves. Inuyasha just shook his head and went in the opposite direction as his brother.

"Never gonna' be able to look at him again," he grumbled, which sent the humans into another peal of laughter. Suddenly, their enemy wasn't so scary.


End file.
